Movie Rec: Sex and the City
Friday, May 30th, 2008 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoLast night, my Mom and I attended the 'Sex and the City' movie premiere as part of a fundraiser for the San Diego Center for LGBT folks. The good news about the fundraiser was that the corporate sponsors had underwritten all of the ancillary costs associated with renting the theatre, so that every $25 we spent per ticket went directly to the Center and its programs. With approximately 450 people in attendance, that's a really sizable donation, one I feel incredibly good about helping out with.
I misread the intention of the event, though, and turned up somewhat overdressed. The two MCs of the event were in tuxes, but there I was in my Little Black Dress and heels and feeling rather too femme. My Mom was, by far, the oldest person there, somewhat to her amusement and consternation. This was a test of my philosophy that I would rather turn up to a party overdressed than underdressed, and for the most part, I think I rocked it. I had brought my faux Vuitton bag, and the movie did not disappoint in terms of handbags. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Prior to the movie, there was a trivia contest, but the MCs needed a better microphone and I couldn't hear half of the questions. We sat through a terrible-looking preview with Richard Gere and Diane Lane, and finally, the movie started!
First off, props to the screenwriters for producing a plot that kept my attention sustained for the entire 145 minutes. One of my initial concerns about the film was that sitcom writers who are used to a 28-minute time frame wouldn't able to pace the story well for a longer and "deeper" story. But the story was well-paced, and there were even some very well-placed, quiet, contemplative parts that worked very well.
Perhaps the funniest thing about this movie is the idea that my Mom had on the car ride home: "That was a very old-fashioned movie" she observed, and she was right. There was a sequence about halfway through where Carrie attempts to watch "Meet Me in St. Louis", but can't get through one of the love songs. The two films meet very nicely in the middle--had there been any kind of song and dance in SatC, it would have been of the "Meet Me in St. Louis" variety. Love, the purest, most romantic love possible, is the ideal for both stories, and anytime love turns to anything remotely resembling business and not pleasure, disaster ensues. 'SatC' was an ode to an old-fashioned kind of love, and love on many levels: between lovers, between friends, awkward and raw, tender and passionate.
The plot, very quickly, finds our heroine Carrie deciding to marry her boyfriend (or 'manfriend' as she calls him when he protests that he's too old to be called 'boyfriend' anymore) of 10 years. All seems well until wedding planning spirals out of control (of course) and Carrie is featured in the Vogue "Age Issue" as the "40 Year Old Bride". (This was, of course, an opportunity to photograph her in all kinds of couture wedding gowns, ending with the most gorgeous Vivienne Westwood concoction of satin and tulle.) Cold feet occur, Carrie's heart is broken, and she flees with her girlfriends to the Mexican resort that was supposed to be the honeymoon spot. In the meantime, Charlotte continues to be her adorably perky self (and annoy my Mom, simply by existing, I guess); Samantha has doubts about her relationship with Jerrod as she watched the hot neighbor next door have all kinds of hot, hot sex; and Miranda's marriage falls apart. This was the hardest plot point for me to buy. I've never liked Steve (her husband) and when he confessed his infidelity, I was with her 110% when she moved out of their Brooklyn house. Heartbreak ensues for everyone. DOES THE MOVIE END HAPPILY?! I give you one guess.
Plot aside, the clothes were simply put, either amazingly good or terribly bad. At one point, I wanted to shake Carrie and yell, Thigh-high argyle socks look good on NO grown-up woman, not even you! There's a point where Carrie is cleaning out her closet and puts on an impromptu fashion show for her friends, going back to 80s Gautier that looks like a red velvet dress with gills on the shoulders and the original tutu outfit from the series credits... and there's the fashion week sequence, and there are the bridesmaids dresses and... it's a fashion-gasm! Seriously, so many colors, textures, fabrics, names and labels, it's a treat for the eyes. Impossible to keep straight who had the best outfit track record without a field guide. There was, too, the usual fashion nonsense where I wonder why people pay money for some things. Example: Carrie's new assistant, ably played by Jennifer Hudson, loves brand-name bags and rents them so she'll have pretty couture ones. Carrie, being generous, buys her one for Christmas. And it is the most hideous Vuitton you've ever seen: red and yellow, kind of terry-cloth looking, with wooden waffle handles and a huge brass Vuitton tag. And I thought, ugh, barf. With all the money in all the world, couldn't you buy something... nicer? Not as barf-worthy? Oh well, it's couture, and I know that's the make-it-or-break-it for most people who collect and buy these things.
Watching this movie with the particular audience I was with was all kinds of awesome. There were pleasant waves of laughter that rippled through the audience as the one-liners between our heroines went back and forth. This was perhaps even better than watching "Snakes on a Plane" with a bunch of UCSD nerds in the audience, because there were a lot of old-school SatC fans in the mix, devoted to each and every detail.
My favorite thing about this movie, really, is the enduring friendship between Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. This movie passes the Bechdel movie test with flying colors. In the end, the main subject of the story is not Carrie marrying Big, or Miranda and Steve, or Charlotte being pregnant, or Samantha breaking it off with Jerrod; the main point of this story is that these four women can rely on each other and that their friendship is stronger than any conflict that threatens to overcome them individually. And that's a really awesome and comforting thing, considering how most other movies I've seen this year barely pass the Bechdel test, let alone show strong female friendships as they often really are. This movie isn't particularly deep or meaningful, but it is touching and well-observed.
tl;dr version: If you have even a passing interest in fashion, shoes, or bags, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. If you enjoyed even one episode of the series, you will likely enjoy this movie quite a bit. If you're wanting a slightly vacuous movie that has a sweet story of enduring female friendship at its core, you should see this. So much fun!
EDIT to add: The LA Times has a slide show of some of the most memorable looks from the film here. (The montage begins with the afore-mentioned horrible argyle socks outfit.)
Off-Topic Note: Thanks to everyone on my flist for keeping their Lost finale notes behind a cut; I didn't get a chance to watch the episode, but will tonight.
I misread the intention of the event, though, and turned up somewhat overdressed. The two MCs of the event were in tuxes, but there I was in my Little Black Dress and heels and feeling rather too femme. My Mom was, by far, the oldest person there, somewhat to her amusement and consternation. This was a test of my philosophy that I would rather turn up to a party overdressed than underdressed, and for the most part, I think I rocked it. I had brought my faux Vuitton bag, and the movie did not disappoint in terms of handbags. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Prior to the movie, there was a trivia contest, but the MCs needed a better microphone and I couldn't hear half of the questions. We sat through a terrible-looking preview with Richard Gere and Diane Lane, and finally, the movie started!
First off, props to the screenwriters for producing a plot that kept my attention sustained for the entire 145 minutes. One of my initial concerns about the film was that sitcom writers who are used to a 28-minute time frame wouldn't able to pace the story well for a longer and "deeper" story. But the story was well-paced, and there were even some very well-placed, quiet, contemplative parts that worked very well.
Perhaps the funniest thing about this movie is the idea that my Mom had on the car ride home: "That was a very old-fashioned movie" she observed, and she was right. There was a sequence about halfway through where Carrie attempts to watch "Meet Me in St. Louis", but can't get through one of the love songs. The two films meet very nicely in the middle--had there been any kind of song and dance in SatC, it would have been of the "Meet Me in St. Louis" variety. Love, the purest, most romantic love possible, is the ideal for both stories, and anytime love turns to anything remotely resembling business and not pleasure, disaster ensues. 'SatC' was an ode to an old-fashioned kind of love, and love on many levels: between lovers, between friends, awkward and raw, tender and passionate.
The plot, very quickly, finds our heroine Carrie deciding to marry her boyfriend (or 'manfriend' as she calls him when he protests that he's too old to be called 'boyfriend' anymore) of 10 years. All seems well until wedding planning spirals out of control (of course) and Carrie is featured in the Vogue "Age Issue" as the "40 Year Old Bride". (This was, of course, an opportunity to photograph her in all kinds of couture wedding gowns, ending with the most gorgeous Vivienne Westwood concoction of satin and tulle.) Cold feet occur, Carrie's heart is broken, and she flees with her girlfriends to the Mexican resort that was supposed to be the honeymoon spot. In the meantime, Charlotte continues to be her adorably perky self (and annoy my Mom, simply by existing, I guess); Samantha has doubts about her relationship with Jerrod as she watched the hot neighbor next door have all kinds of hot, hot sex; and Miranda's marriage falls apart. This was the hardest plot point for me to buy. I've never liked Steve (her husband) and when he confessed his infidelity, I was with her 110% when she moved out of their Brooklyn house. Heartbreak ensues for everyone. DOES THE MOVIE END HAPPILY?! I give you one guess.
Plot aside, the clothes were simply put, either amazingly good or terribly bad. At one point, I wanted to shake Carrie and yell, Thigh-high argyle socks look good on NO grown-up woman, not even you! There's a point where Carrie is cleaning out her closet and puts on an impromptu fashion show for her friends, going back to 80s Gautier that looks like a red velvet dress with gills on the shoulders and the original tutu outfit from the series credits... and there's the fashion week sequence, and there are the bridesmaids dresses and... it's a fashion-gasm! Seriously, so many colors, textures, fabrics, names and labels, it's a treat for the eyes. Impossible to keep straight who had the best outfit track record without a field guide. There was, too, the usual fashion nonsense where I wonder why people pay money for some things. Example: Carrie's new assistant, ably played by Jennifer Hudson, loves brand-name bags and rents them so she'll have pretty couture ones. Carrie, being generous, buys her one for Christmas. And it is the most hideous Vuitton you've ever seen: red and yellow, kind of terry-cloth looking, with wooden waffle handles and a huge brass Vuitton tag. And I thought, ugh, barf. With all the money in all the world, couldn't you buy something... nicer? Not as barf-worthy? Oh well, it's couture, and I know that's the make-it-or-break-it for most people who collect and buy these things.
Watching this movie with the particular audience I was with was all kinds of awesome. There were pleasant waves of laughter that rippled through the audience as the one-liners between our heroines went back and forth. This was perhaps even better than watching "Snakes on a Plane" with a bunch of UCSD nerds in the audience, because there were a lot of old-school SatC fans in the mix, devoted to each and every detail.
My favorite thing about this movie, really, is the enduring friendship between Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. This movie passes the Bechdel movie test with flying colors. In the end, the main subject of the story is not Carrie marrying Big, or Miranda and Steve, or Charlotte being pregnant, or Samantha breaking it off with Jerrod; the main point of this story is that these four women can rely on each other and that their friendship is stronger than any conflict that threatens to overcome them individually. And that's a really awesome and comforting thing, considering how most other movies I've seen this year barely pass the Bechdel test, let alone show strong female friendships as they often really are. This movie isn't particularly deep or meaningful, but it is touching and well-observed.
tl;dr version: If you have even a passing interest in fashion, shoes, or bags, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. If you enjoyed even one episode of the series, you will likely enjoy this movie quite a bit. If you're wanting a slightly vacuous movie that has a sweet story of enduring female friendship at its core, you should see this. So much fun!
EDIT to add: The LA Times has a slide show of some of the most memorable looks from the film here. (The montage begins with the afore-mentioned horrible argyle socks outfit.)
Off-Topic Note: Thanks to everyone on my flist for keeping their Lost finale notes behind a cut; I didn't get a chance to watch the episode, but will tonight.
